Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Three Diamonds of the First Water!

by Anna Campbell

It's always fun to have Bandita favorites back. And today, I've got two faves and a wonderful new guest for you all to meet. Let the festivities begin!

Amanda McCabe, Deb Marlowe and Diane Gaston are launching their new anthology for Harlequin Historicals, THE DIAMONDS OF WELBOURNE MANOR. Here's the blurb for what sounds like a really intriguing trio of stories:

JUSTINE AND THE NOBLE VISCOUNT by Diane Gaston

Guardian to the unconventional and newly orphaned Fitzmannings is not a role that brooding Gerald Brenner relishes. But Justine, the illegitimate daughter who strives to hide her shame, calls powerfully to something deep within him….

ANNALISE AND THE SCANDALOUS RAKE by Deb Marlowe

House party guest Ned Milford can see the inner passion and beauty that Annalise Fitzmanning hides. But how close should they become when his reason for being at Welbourne Manor would prompt a society scandal, not a society marriage!

CHARLOTTE AND THE WICKED LORD by Amanda McCabe

Charlotte may be the youngest Fitzmanning girl, but she knows her own mind—and she wants Lord Andrew Bassington! Drew requires an eminently proper bride, something free-spirited Charlotte has never been. So how can she make him see the beautiful woman she has become…?

Now it's my great pleasure to introduce the heroines from all three books, Annalise, Charlotte and Justine, as they enjoy a very elegant Regency afternoon tea together.

Charlotte Fitzmanning, who had only been Lady Andrew Derrington for a few weeks, surveyed the drawing room of her new London home in nervous excitement. Everything seemed to be quite in order—the new furnishings, the stylish silk draperies, her sister Annalise’s paintings on the walls, the vases of hothouse roses, the polished silver tea service that was a wedding gift laid out on the table with her mother’s Wedgwood.

But was it perfect?

It had to be, for not just any guests were soon to arrive for her first tea as a married lady. She expected her sisters, Justine and Annalise. She wanted so much for them to see she was happy and settled, that she was a fashionable lady and not just their wild little sister! That she and Drew had a lovely life together.

“No, Oliver!” she cried, grabbing up the pug just as he lunged for a cake. Just in time, too, for the butler announced her first guest—Justine.

Justine entered the room and immediately enveloped Charlotte in a big hug. “Oh, Charlotte! It is so good to see you. I’ve missed you so.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” Even though her life with Drew was like a dream come true, Charlotte did miss her sisters and brothers and their carefree days at Welbourne Manor.

Justine surveyed the room. “Why this is lovely, Charlotte. I must get some decorating ideas from you. Our townhouse is no longer gloomy, but you’ve achieved the very latest in fashion.” She spied the Wedgewood. “Oh, your mother’s tea set. How pretty it looks here.” Justine and Brenner lived with Brenner and his father, who was once married to Charlotte’s mother, who, of course was Brenner’s mother, too, but not Justine’s. So Brenner was Charlotte’s half-brother, but, then, so were Nicky and Stephen, but that was because the duke was their father, as well as hers, Annalise’s, Leo’s, and Justine’s. But not Brenner’s.

Charlotte pressed her fingers to her temple. Sorting out their family always gave her a headache. “How is baby Catherine?” she asked Justine.Justine smiled. “She grows by the day! And she is so clever. You should see her shake her rattle and I would swear she is trying to talk with the sounds she makes.”

The butler returned to announce that Annalise had arrived. Justine and Charlotte immediately turned to greet her.

“Good afternoon, you two!” Annalise’s wide smile spoke volumes as she entered. Justine stood closest, so she got the first hug. “Where is my niece? I was hoping to see her today.”

“She is at home, charming her father away from his accounts and his estate matters, I hope.”

Charlotte loved to see the tenderness that softened Justine’s face when she spoke of her husband and daughter. “Today is just for us.”

“Well, I shall just have to make do with Oliver, then.” Annalise laughed as she scooped the pug up from another sneak attack on the teacakes. Her other arm looped around Charlotte’s waist and she gazed around the room with satisfaction. “I don’t have to ask what you have been doing, little sister. I can see you’ve been hard at work—and how lovely it has all turned out!”

Charlotte flushed with pleasure. “Thank you, Annalise.”

"And what of you, Annalise?” Justine asked. “Have you been sequestered in your studio? Brenner ran into Ned yesterday and he said that the gallery is nearly ready for its first showing.”

“I have been painting like mad. My new husband, my new studio, my new life, it’s all been perfect.”

Charlotte heard the trembling note in her sister’s voice and squeezed her tighter. “Come,” she said to distract her.“Everything is ready. I’ll pour and it will be just as if we were girls again at Welbourne, playing tea party.”

“Hardly girls.” Annalise took her seat with a sigh, Oliver still in her lap. “Look at us! Brenner and Justine have worked hard until his estates are flourishing. I saw a mention of the pair of you in the papers, too! You’ve become an exemplary young society couple. Ned and I are so happy together, and he’s about to open his gallery at last.”

Charlotte leaned in to hand her a cup and saucer and Annalise took it with a grin. “Even our wild little Charlotte is a respectable married lady.”

“Who would have thought it would turn out this way,” Justine said quietly, “That day when Brenner first came to Welbourne with such terrible news?”

They sat quietly a moment, reflecting on all the highs and lows that had led to this moment of happiness.

Finally Charlotte could take the solemnity no more. “Do you know, as I was preparing for this afternoon, I had a thought. The three of us are settled so happily . . .” She let her voice trail away suggestively. “But what of the boys?”

Justine grinned. “I’ve entertained the same notion.”

“Surely, working together, the three of us could contrive something,” Annalise said with an evil grin.Oh, dear, sounds like the boys in the family are facing their collective Waterloo! As a long-time reader of Regency romance, I know that when sisters unite to matchmake, the poor male in question hasn't got a hope! I can't wait to see what happens.

The girls have a couple of questions for the Banditas and Bandita buddies. They want to know whether you like linked anthologies. They also want to know whether your own families are candidates for starring in an anthology. Wow, that's an interesting thought! Diane, Amanda and Deb have very generously donated a copy of their latest anthology THE DIAMONDS OF WELBOURNE MANOR to one lucky commenter today. Good luck!

112 comments:

Hi Amanda, Deb, and Diane! Great post, and thanks for visiting with us today!As for linked anthologies - yes, I do like them. It's nice when there's some common factor that ties all the novellas together. (Especially when it actually fits the story.) Loosely connected novellas are fine be my as well.As for whether or not my family would be a good candidate... well, my extended family, I suppose might work. My dad had a lot of brothers and sisters, so I've got 19 [first] cousins. And of course they're pretty much all married and have kids... There's no secret story or "interesting" history. However, they're all frighteningly accomplished.Your new anthology sounds terrific - congratulations on the release!

Oh, I have An Improper Aristocrat in my TBR pile! I'll have to read it as soon as I get caught up with deadlines. The last few weeks have been a writing binge, so my reading has sadly fallen behind. So nice to meet you, ladies! I look forward to reading your book(s)!

Hi, Diane, Amanda, and Deb! Thanks for the excellent introduction--I do enjoy linked anthologies! I'm a sucker for anthologies anyway, but I do enjoy them when there are connections and the authors take the time to flesh them out meaningfully. As for my own family starring in one, no thanks! ;)

Ladies, welcome!!! Its so awesome to hear about your book and it sounds GREAT. Congratulations. I have to ask, were you all buddies before you wrote it, or did that come with the writing of a connected anthology?

I just love connected stories, be they anthologies or series. Its so wonderful to see different authors perspective of the 'same' characters.

Hello Amanda, Deb, and Diane! I have been hearing about your book around the blogs. I also love to read anthologies and when they are connected its all the better. I love it when the stories fall right together but you don't find that often. I would love to read you alls anthology. As far as my family being a good candidate for an anthology, maybe years ago but most are all gone now. My father had 11 brothers and sisters, so I came from a large family. My mother there was only two children. There is just not that many left in my family.

I loved the post Anna I have heard a lot about this book and really want to read it I really love linked anthologys and families because I feel like I know the characters from the stories and with each story you get to know them better and learn more about all of the characters.

As for whether my family are canditats for an anthology I would say just about everyones family could be in some way or another I come from a rather large family with lots of cousins and relatives my father was one of 8 my mum one of 4 and actually one of my grandfathers was one of 11 boys thats a big family. I actually would love to read about them all LOL

Hi Diane, Amanda and Deb,I do enjoy linked anthologies because it does not tax my poor memory like linked books that are released many months apart. We are a bunch of married with children people in our family so no good stories ready to happen yet.

My family wouldn't qualify for an anthology I'm afraid but I do love to read them. I especially like to read them to find new to me authors. I think they are a great way to start or to end a series of books by any one of the authors.

Yes, we've been friends for years! I'll let Amanda describe how she became Diane's mentor, but I met the both of them on a Regency Tour of England lo, these many years ago. :-) We stayed in touch, met up at RWA and hung out at the Beau Monde soiree every year. Eventually both Amanda and I followed in Diane's footsteps and became Harlequin Historical/Harlequin Mills and Boon authors!

I think that the historical team knew we were friends and that was a large factor in our offer to do this anthology.

Ladies, welcome to the Lair! We're so happy to have you all here. I've been hearing about this anthology since long before it was written, thanks to Deb. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

I love anthologies, especially if I know and love at least one of the authors. I also love anything that "feels" like a linked series of books, so linked anthologies are great!

My family would make for just the sort of books I write, oddly. Southern, humorous but with loads of drama and high emotion. There's a reason all those great Southern authors coined the Southern Gothic, y'all. I know Louisa and Jeanne and others will back me up on that!

I know Diane and Amanda have some exciting stuff coming up! I'll let them tell you, but I can say I've been waiting for Amanda's Muse trilogy for a long time!

In October I have a new North American release. Her Cinderella Season is a connected book to An Improper Aristocrat. Jack Alden finally gets his own story! He's met his match in Lily Beecham, the daughter of Evangelical reformers who is determined to finally experience something of life!

Hi Leslie! If you enjoy linked stories then this will be right up your ally!

Diane and Amanda and I were intrigued by the idea of blended families in the Regency. We wondered what would happen if a Duke abandoned his wife and lived happily for many years with his vivacious, married mistress. The consequences for their children, his, hers and theirs together, would be far reaching and difficult to deal with!

TDOWM follows the highs and lows encountered by the three daughters of the house as they approach a marriageable age.

Thanks for having us here, Banditas!! The 3 of us are very excited about this anthology. (I love reading linked stories, but would have been scared to write one if I hadn't been able to work with friends!). I doubt my own family would make an interesting story--we're too small for one thing (I have only 1 sibling!), and too dull. :)

As for what's coming up--gosh, where to start! I have another "Welbourne"-linked novella coming out in a Christmas anthology in November (Mary and Dominic, from "Charlotte and the Wicked Lord"), an Elizabethan-Christmas book, also in November ("The Winter Queen"), and a reissue of two of my old Signet Regencies in September ("Spirited Brides", perfect for Halloween!).

In 2010, my Harlequin "Muses of Mayfair" trilogy will be out in the US in April, May, June (3 artistic sisters getting involved in antiquities shenanigans). And my alter-ego Laurel McKee will debut in February with "Countess of Scandal" from Grand Central Publishing.

Your new anthology sounds intriguing. I enjoy anthologies as long as the characters and the plot are interesting to me. If the authors work well together, I know the stories are going to excellent. Have a great day.

Our process was a lot of fun! We were so excited to get the offer--over mexican food and marqueritas with my first editor--the lovely Maddie West.

The three of us met in Williamsburg, VA for a plotting, shopping and touring weekend. The more we walked and shopped, the more ideas came! We got together in the evening with our notebooks and then the ideas really flew.

We went home and sent each other a gazillion emails over months, hammering out the details and fleshing out our lovely family.

And now we're doing promo together, which has been lots of work, but lots of fun--and we're meeting up again later this month at BEA--the only time we'll get to sign copies of the book together.

I like it too when an anthology is connected to the beginning or end of a series. My cp, Liz Carlyle did that with her Never series. The family was introduced in the School for Heiresses anthology she did with Sabrina Jeffries, Julia London and Renee Brenard.

We have some projects connected to this anthology, as you can see in Amanda's post!

Also Diane has a Historical Undone ebook called The Unlacing of Miss Leigh at eHarlequin.

Also at eHarlequin I have a free online read called Journey to Welbourne!

I love linked anthologies--they're less like individual stories with one connecting theme and more like family stories.

My mother's side of the family could work as an anthology of 'how love doesn't work', or if you venture towards the Irish cousins/aunts/uncle/etc a family tour of Ireland (at last count, including only first, second and third cousins/aunts/uncles I have close to 100 family members spread throughout all of Northern Ireland).

My dad's side would work I think. We have mafia members (shh), a chef, government works, retail, school, two nurses, two law-field candidates, a computer geek, karate guy, video game nerd, beauty queens...though I think it would be more like a murder mystery ala Clue.

Hey, Amanda, Deb and Diane (who is also one of my Wet Noodle Posse buddies). I think working on a three-person anthology like this is fascinating. Sorry if you've already addressed this (haven't read all the previous comments yet), but how did the idea come about? Did was this an author-generated anthology or a publisher-generated one?

They want to know whether you like linked anthologies. They also want to know whether your own families are candidates for starring in an anthology. I haven't read any linked anthologies that I'm aware of. However, I have to say it'd probably be neat. Hearing things from multiple perspectives just makes the experience that much richer.

As for my family as candidates? Oh wow. We actually probably would make great candidates. Maybe titled like the "Study in Dysfunction" series. My brother and I have pretty interesting stories. My sister, yeah, her too. Mom 'n dad? Interesting, yes. Interesting in the way that a train-wreck is kind of interesting. "Oh my, it's horrible but I can't look away."

People would probably read it. Then set it on fire. Then bury the ashes. Then surround the burial site in concertina wire and hazmat signs.

Virginia, sorry to hear about your family thinning out over the years.

Leslie, laughed at the idea of a goofy romantic comedy for your family anthology. How lovely!

Minna, another anthology fan? Clearly we all like them! Yay!

Christine, I too am fascinated by the process. Did an editor come to you with the original idea? Did you come up with it yourselves? How much input did Harlequin have into the final stories? How much toing and froing was there between the three of you to avoid continuity glitches?

Helen, I have to say I thought of you when I heard about this book. Seems to be right up your alley!

Diane, thanks for popping in. Hope lunch was great. Congratulations on the new release. And don't forget to tell me what you've got coming up next.

Maureen, I think those good stories are just a matter of time!

Dianna, you're right about anthologies being a great way to try new authors. I know I've been converted to new authors by reading their work in an anthology that's included a story by someone I already know and love.

Llehn! I don't think you've visited a blog I've hosted before. Welcome! Pull up a chair. A chair, I said! NOT A CABANA BOY!!! NOT A... Oh, all right, he looks happy, take him!

Crystal, another anthology fan! Yay!

Jo, I love it when we get a sneak peak into the characters like this. I still remember the wonderful hero invasion with Michelle and Nicola and Amanda a few months ago! The place was crawling with Vikings and pirates and Regency rakes! Yum!

Actually, P226, I think with the current vogue for shapeshifters and urban fantasy, we could be onto something with this third nipple pitch! What about two heads? We could pitch that as something for the intellectual in the family!

Hello to you all!! Absolutely enjoying the visit from you all in and out of the book! That was fun and exciting to read! So looking forward to meeting them more in the book! I think this is so neat to do this with related stories in an anthology! Sometimes I get anthologies that I'd get to read some new to me authors and others of bringing back my favorites together but not much at all that the anthologies stories are related so this is great.

I have 3 other sisters and 2 brothers and I would think along the lines of a regency too of their stories! There's so many different personalities of us 6 that it would be all unique stories of them!

With your question to us, it makes me curious if you ever did series and kind of created them from your family or other families you may know?

When HH offered us the anthology, we had complete freedom to come up with the idea/theme. It was great--and a little daunting.

We were fascinated with idea of blended families in the Regency, like those of the Duchess of Devonshire and her sister Lady Bessborough. Amanda had also been reading about a similar Elizabethan family. It sparked a discussion and we were off!

Deb, it sounds like you all simply clicked. That sounds like so much fun! I think I might be too much of a control freak to do something like that, but it would be fun to try. Did you have anything you couldn't agree on? It sounds like the process was pretty smooth all around.

Sara and Deb, it's not the right time to talk about WICKED LITTLE GAME now when we have guests but I'll be posting excerpts etc very soon!

Anna, you're lovely to say that about WLG--as you know, I really loved writing that book!

I'm back from the Ft Meade luncheon and had a lovely time. The wives snapped up copies of The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor! (there was a booksigning as well as eating)

Michelle Willingham was there and I got to see the little one and her daughter (who is as pretty as her mother!)Michelle's mother was there, too, and you could tell she was so proud.

Janet Mullany, my fellow Risky, came. She, Sally MacKenzie and I carpooled. Mary Jo Putney was there...I sat next to Tracy Anne Warren. There were a bunch of authors there!

I think someone asked what was next for each of us? For me, RIGHT NOW, I have a Harlequin Historical Undone, a short estory, that you can buy from eHarlequin. In the last two weeks it was the number ONE bestselling ebook on eHarlequin 8 out of 10 consecutive days. It's called THE UNLACING OF MISS LEIGHThen I have the first book in a Regency trilogy about three soldiers, as yet untitled, coming Dec 2009 and I have to write Leo Fitzmanning's book.

Hey, PJ, as always, great to see you! The party continues in the lair. It's been a huge week so far, hasn't it? I thought everyone would still be licking their wounds after the anniversary bash. But it just seems to have challenged the party animals to keep the fiesta going.

Pat, P226 always cracks me up!

Catslady, you've never read a linked anthology? The ones I've read have mainly been tied up with a holiday like Christmas but I always find them fun!

Hello Amanda, Deb & Diane and Lady Anna... I've read a few anthologies but never a linked anthology. Your's sounds wonderful. As for anthology about my family...it would end up being a huge tome encompassing arranged marriages, unrequited love, the ravages of war, murder, insanity, long-held secrets, secret babies, kooks, a few normal people and lots of inordinately cruel nicknames. Of course there are tales of love, fortune and triump over adversity... but it's not as exciting to write about!

Ditto what Deb said on the genesis of the anthology! Harlequin gave us an extraordinary amount of freedom--they just took us out to dinner at RWA, said "we'd like you 3 to do a Regency anthology, whatever you'd like" and we were off! :) Luckily they liked our idea and we didn't have to go back to the drawing board.

Anna, my alter-ego is Laurel McKee (my middle name + random Irish name from the phone book) and she has 3 books coming out from Grand Central called "The Daughters of Erin." They're stories of 3 aristocratic Irish sisters (another connected family!) during the time of the 1798 Rebellion. It's been a blast to research and work on so far!!

Anna..unfortunately, the really interesting characters are long gone. I always wanted to meet the aunt, the Hong Kong department store heiress, who was told by a fortune teller that the key to happiness was to marry the first man she met on the street. And she did!

Sorry I'm late to the party, y'all! What a fun post. Welcome to the lair, Diane, Deb, and Amanda.

Anna C., thanks for hosting them.

Looks like y'all have had a great day. I prefer linked to non-linked anthologies. I feel more as if I'm reading one big story when they're linked. I have this book and am looking forward to reading it.

I don't think our family would be a good anthology candidate. We're too mundane. :-)

Actually I always wish I'd known my father's aunt better. Her first husband was a WWII ace who died in a crash in 1942 when he was training other pilots near Townsville in north Queensland. She had a really swish and stylish apartment in central Sydney and she spent the later years of the war having what sounds like a very passionate affair with a Colonel from Virginia. He wanted to marry her but she couldn't leave Australia where she was now running a huge sheep station (in between trips to Sydney). We've got some bits and pieces she gave Mum and Dad over the years - she was a woman of amazingly sophisticated taste and I think I would have really liked her!

Anna...I know you write historicals but the story of your aunt and the colonel from VA, the sheep station..omigosh..it could be another sweeping epic like The Thorn Birds! I think their story needs to be written! I would love to hear more about it! My mom's sister fell in love with a Japanese officer in Malaya during WWII. He used to bring them food during the occupation. After the war, he was imprisoned in a camp and the family would visit him and bring him food. When he was released, he asked my aunt to marry him but my granny wouldn't allow it. The soldier settled in Taiwan and became a successful businessman and visited my aunt, who was also married (unhappily) and still living in Malaysia.

The aunt in HK who married the first man she saw on the street...He was a commoner (hiss!) and when they married, they moved into a mansion. They had one son, who was well educated but never worked. He bought a lot of land in China and then lost it after the war when the communists took over. He unwisely attempted to argue his case with the communists, who imprisoned him and then executed him for being a spy. His son, a retired teacher, lives in China and has been known to say that if his father wasn't such a hot head, he too, would have lived in the lap of luxury! The department store heiress' family owned "Sincere" which kind of the equivalent of Macy's here in the States. Ah, what could have been!

Wow, Jen, what a story! It's certainly a sweeping epic too. And I love the love across the lines of war story about the Japanese soldier too. I only remember meeting my great aunt once - she was very tall and thin and elegant, although she had cancer at the time so it could have been a result of the illness. She had the most exquisite taste! She and my father's uncle basically brought my father up - I think his uncle dying stayed a source of powerful grief for my father all his life. He was like a surrogate father and he sounds like such a dashing, wonderful man!

lol Joan - how is that *possible*? I only counted the kids my aunts/uncles had-which ends up at nineteen, on my dad's side. If I counted their spouses and the cousins on my mom's side the number would increase, but 63 would still be WAY more. Ack!

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Donna MacMeans, Trish Milburn, and Nancy Northcott will all be in Atlanta for the Moonlight and Magnolias conference in Decatur, Georgia September 30 through October 2nd. If you're in the area, stop by for the booksigning. We'd love to see you.

Redeeming the Rogue by Donna MacMeans received a 4.5 star TOP PICK! review from Romantic Times Magazine.

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